Ok so its day one and you've just brought your new cute little puppy home for the first time, all the family love its little puppy paws running around in its new surrounding. The entire family are instantly addicted to playing with the dog and all want it to sleep with them that night. Day two comes and everything seems just as happy and playful as the previous day, except today, the puppy is slightly more used to its surroundings and gnawing and chewing on everything seems to be the new game for your puppy.

So how do you stop your dog chewing, biting, and general all round shredding of everything their little mouths can get around? Simply telling your puppy to stop and removing him from the scene, although it might help in the long run slightly, is not going to help your furniture in the short term and they'll be straight back chewing something else.

It takes time for your new puppy to grasp the idea of what they can and cant chew to bits, chewing and biting is quite normal for a puppy and is all part of the process of teething, chewing helps the puppy cope with the soreness of the initial six months or so and is essential for a growing pup.

Nothing is out of bounds for a teething puppy, consider everything a possibility for chewing. Dogs don't know the difference between your best pair of shoes and a battered old chew toy so it's your job to show them. From the very beginning you need to show them right from wrong so you don't come up against the same problem when your little puppy isn't so little any more.

Chew toys are a great dog toy so take full advantage of them while you still have furniture left in your living room. Show your puppy that it's good to play with that toy by rewarding him with doggy treats or something you know he likes, put this toy in front of him and in his mouth as much as possible to encourage him to chew it.

You cant always be with your puppy so when you find you have to leave your puppy alone in the house it might be a good idea to close him in a puppy proof room with just the essentials and his new puppy chew toy, before long he'll get used to chewing on the puppy toys and start to notice the difference in reception he gets from chewing your favourite magazine and the reward he gets for using his toy.

There is a lot more to training puppies and teaching your puppy not to chew on everything in sight, and it may take time and some patience before you get there but it's a lot cheaper than buying a new living room and your puppy will grow into a much better trained dog because of it.